President: Martial law is as well aimed to enhance the defense of the coastline of the Sea of Azov from the marine assault

28 November 2018 - 18:17

President Petro Poroshenko explained in detail the motives and the sequence of actions of the Ukrainian authorities regarding the introduction of martial law in our state.

"Today, officially, in confirmation of our intelligence information, Russian TASS has announced the establishment of new rocket divisions in Crimea. What do they do there?" the President noted in a meeting with the leadership of Chernihiv region. At the same time, the Head of State stressed that the number of the enemy’s armed forces located along Ukraine's borders, including long-range artillery, tanks, strike and reconnaissance aircrafts, had increased fourfold.

"This is clear to the whole world, except for some irresponsible representatives of the Ukrainian opposition," Petro Poroshenko said.

The introduction of martial law is intended to protect a Ukrainian warrior so that "the warrior acts under the protection of law". "So that we do not waste a minute in the event of an open full-scale ground military aggression when everything will be involved, from mobilization to the operation of the headquarters of territorial defense, creation of the Headquarter of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief," the President added.

"Protecting people is our primary goal. Not to allow the aggressor to break through even further and force him to pay a high price for such an irresponsible decision," the Head of State said.

He noted that martial law is also aimed to enhance the defense of the coastline of the Sea of Azov from the marine assault.

"They (Russians - ed.) are now transferring from all fleets to the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Was the President's decision to establish martial law justified? Obviously. On the contrary, it would be irresponsible if we had not acted accordingly," the President said about the situation in the Sea of Azov.

The President also warned that the aggressor was actively continuing to use misinformation in order to discredit the actions of the Ukrainian authorities.

"Apart from martial law, in addition to the threat of aggression, we still have the risks of playing into the hands of Moscow by our populists. Today, Putin proclaimed that the shooting of Ukrainian ships was a provocation of the Ukrainian authorities," Petro Poroshenko noted.

"How’s that? And then you think whether they spoke differently when there were events in Salisbury. Lies as well. And the slogan "they are not there" - the same lies. It's all clear to us. And how does it sound when some Ukrainian political parties yesterday tried to prove that it was Ukrainians’ fault - why did they send ships there?" the President emphasized.

"This is our sea, these are our ports. And we will never ask how we should move in our territory," Petro Poroshenko noted.